The Inky Box Mini Pen Subscription Box Review – January 2019

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The Inky Box is an art pen subscription box that was suggested by Virginia, one of our readers! Lettering and calligraphy fans, take note—this subscription sends you tools to create all kinds of unique lettering work each month. They also share tutorial content for the month’s products on their social channels!

There are two subscription levels to choose from—The Inky Box (lettering tools, supplies, and hand-lettered greeting cards for $39.95 per month) and The Inky Box Mini (2-4 of the lettering tools that were featured in the larger box for $14.99 per month).

This is a review of The Inky Box Mini subscription, which costs $14.99 per month.

My Subscription Addiction paid for this box. (Check out the review process post to learn more about how we review boxes.)

About The Inky Box Mini

Good to Know: They also offer a larger box (The Inky Box) that includes much more product for $39.95 per month. New to lettering? Follow @TheInkyBox on Instagram or subscribe to The Inky Box’s channel on YouTube for tutorials, tips, and more!

Ships to: US for $2.49 and Worldwide. International shipping is $19.99.

The Inky Box Mini January 2019 Review

Here’s the info card for this month’s box, which includes links to digital handwriting practice sheets you can download.

The color you receive is random and I received a red pen. The nib has good give but isn’t too soft to work with and the color is a bright cherry red. It doesn’t look like this pen has the same permanent marking ink of the traditional Sharpie but writes very smoothly on paper.

I received #161 Phthalo Green and #125 Middle Purple Pink. These two colors go well together and the ink itself is waterproof and acid-free, with a firmer nib than the Sharpie pen. Unfortunately, the Middle Purple Pink pen appears to be dry already and doesn’t have the richness you’d expect from a new pen but the Phthalo Green is lovely.

With the widest and softest nibs, these pens tout their blendable ink which you can use to achieve some watercolor-like effects. I received a bright pink, which is nearly the same color as the Faber Castell pen. The second pen is a light khaki green color, which would not be my personal choice for a nice calligraphy art piece but would be absolutely perfect for coloring books with lots of foliage (I’m looking at you, Enchanted Forest).

This was the only brand in this month’s box which was new to me and I absolutely love this pen! The nib is firm and fine and the black ink is perfect for outlining and adding drop shadows to your lettering. It has a comfortable wide barrel and is light without the cap. This one is going to be added to my pencil case for daily use for sure.

Here’s a little demo of each of the pens!

January Practice Sheets

It’s great to have downloadable practice sheets, especially if like me you don’t find brush pens intuitive to use or are new to calligraphy. You’ll need your own printer and paper in order to make use of them and there are three phrases this month.

The Verdict: Although my love of pens runs deep, I’ve never ventured into the more sophisticated hand-lettering world and this box has certainly piqued my interest in it. I found The Inky Box Mini to have high-quality pens with a blend of known and new to me brands and the practice sheets might give me the confidence to experiment with learning calligraphy. I do wish I hadn’t gotten two pens that were nearly the same color but understand the selections were random. This subscription is a great way to try out new brands without committing to whole pre-made packs and to get comfortable writing with brush tips.

The box cost $17.48 ($14.99 + $2.49 shipping), but I estimate a retail value of $11.77 not counting the Marvy marker and downloadable practice sheets. Although the value this month likely falls just shy of the box price, I found it worth it to be able to discover brands I wouldn’t have known to seek out.

To Wrap Up:

Can I still get this box if I sign up today?: No. New subscribers will receive their box the first week of the following month, according to The Inky Box’s FAQ page.

Value Breakdown: This box costs $$14.99 + $2.49 shipping, which means that each of the 7 items in the box has an average cost of $2.50.

Nikkim, I do think that the value is a little low, but in order to try new brands, you would have to purchase them either in multi-packs or the inflated single prices (whether you go online and possibly pay shipping or at an art store) so the value for me is in getting a few pieces and the curation.

I definitely agree! For me the value of trying a pen without buying a whole pack makes the cost more reasonable (and just the novelty factor of getting a pen I’ve never heard of before). With fifteen dollars I could get lost spending hours in a pen store trying to decide 🙂

Exactly! And then there’s me…I have a terrible time sticking to the fifteen dollar limit. There’s also that chance of buying a whole pack of markers and then realizing that you aren’t in love with them.

Before I saw details on each product and estimated value of the whole box, I was thinking this box shouldn’t be over 10 bucks. For 15 dollars, I could get some killer markers and pens. I was excited to see this review though